Huang, Chun-zen, “Traveling opera troupes in Shanghai, 1842-1949”, (1997)

Title : “Traveling opera troupes in Shanghai, 1842-1949”,

Author(s) : Huang, Chun-zen

Year : 1997

Type : Dissertation

Subject : History

Keywords : culture;entertainment;

University : The Catholic University of America,

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : There is evidence of Western opera activity in China as early as the late-eighteenth century when Italian Jesuits reputedly produced Piccinni's La buona figliuola at the imperial court in Beijing; and in 1833 a Neapolitan opera company en route from South America to Calcutta made a six-month stay in Macao. There is no indication, however, that these early events had any lasting influence on Chinese culture. With England's defeat of China in the Opium War of 1840, and the consequent signing of the Treaty of Nanking (1842), Shanghai, along with five other Chinese coastal cities, was opened for foreign trade and residence. Because of its location at the edge of China's richest and most advanced economic region Shanghai grew very rapidly, attracting large numbers of westerners, and in a relatively short time was transformed from a small village to a cosmopolis nick-named the 'Paris of the East.' The westerners who settled there were mainly missionaries, diplomats, or businessmen who often formed small circles and presented concerts and theatrical performances for their own amusement. These isolated communities of colonists hungered for professional cultural entertainment, and soon opera impresarios from Europe, recognizing the potential for a new enterprise here, began taking the newest and most popular operas to the Far East, often making lengthy tours, performing along the way in Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Batavia before ending in Shanghai. Thus Western opera was again brought to China, and this time it began to have a lasting influence. From about 1875 until 1929 Shanghai was regularly visited by foreign traveling opera companies. This dissertation examines in detail the activity of the traveling western opera troupes in Shanghai, and evaluates their eventual impact upon Chinese culture. The first six chapters deals with the touring companies themselves; their repertoire, the impresarios, the roster of singers, the theaters where they performed and, where possible, the quality of their performance. The seventh chapter is a survey of the main sources of this study and concludes with an examination of the influence of these traveling groups upon Chinese society.